eLab: Accelerating Innovation in the Electricity Sector (Video)

With the help of more than 50 participants, advisors, and support staff, Rocky Mountain Institute convened the first meeting of the Electricity Innovation Lab (“eLab”) on June 25-28 in San Diego, California.

Strong forces—the growing need for major infrastructure investments, climate change, new demands for electricity services, rapid technological development and cost reduction—are aligning to drive transformative change in the U.S. electricity sector. Indeed, the sector is already evolving organically, from the grassroots.

But without further innovation and coordination, economic inefficiencies, misaligned incentives, political resistance, and wasted efforts will slow this organic transformation.

“A diverse, dispersed, resilient, largely renewable electricity future is the key to our energy future, making the world richer or fairer, cooler, and safer,” said RMI Chairman and Chief Scientist Amory Lovins. “So, it is absolutely essential to figure out the answers to these vexing questions in exactly the way that eLab plans to do. And I think it’s wonderful we’ve been able to pull these people together and start the conversation.”

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July 26, 2012

As I so often see the lack of financially economizing technology. I keep saying bury the distribution wires don't put them up in the air and waste all the distribution corridors and all the grounds maintenance, tree trimming, storm damage, lightning damage, and RF noise from insulator leakage. It has been done and the savings in continuous maintenance pays for the increased costs. If we can bury an oil pipeline in Alaska, we can bury a pipe full of wires in the lower 48. (Build "Heat Pipe Technology" into the "Conduit system" to dissipate the IR drop.) "Heat Pipes" work to keep friction from heating the permafrost in the Arctic oil pipelines. No new inventions needed. And use the existing Natural Gas pipeline system as a Peak leveling system, modern Hydrogen from water with water using Aluminum in place of Platinum is 95% effective and pump the Hydrogen into the Natural gas distribution system, then at peaking use the Natural Gas Hydrogen Gas mix makes an excellent fuel for peaking Turbine generators or a fuel cell array can be used for some peaking loads. The mixed gas needs no modification of equipment by Natural Gas customer's equipment as hydrogen is already a component of Natural gas.